Social
Media at Work: How Networking Tools Propel Organizational Performance
By Arthur L. Jue, Jackie Alcalde Marr, and Mary Ellen Kassotakis
Retail: $29.95
USD
ISBN: 978-0470405437
Review by Tony Deblauwe
Many organizations are struggling to comprehend how to deal with the many changes impacting their workforce whether it is shifts in age demographics, talent building and retention, or leveraging Web 2.0 technologies amongst employees. Social Media at Work offers a comprehensive approach that shows business leaders and human resources professionals had to leverage the power of social media tools to build a truly connected global workforce.
The book offers several examples of companies on the cutting edge of social media technology and the impact it has on employee engagement and productivity. Companies such as Humana, who engineered a way to connect employee talent profiles through several online knowledge hubs. Or Nokia and the NewsHub program which helps connect employees at a personal and professional level with updates from their organizations and photo and video uploads using Nokia phones.
In chapter six, the authors offer a step-by-step guide of how companies can build rapid communication networks through social media in order to advance innovation, agile development, talent management, and ultimately, connection and collaboration. The examples are rich and represent ideal springboards of learning for anyone looking to move beyond the doubt or hype of social media tools and actually get them to work effectively as a regular part of any work environment.
Having real-time experience at Nokia when NewsHub and the various other hubs were formed, it was great to see how perfectly the authors captured the spirit of the project and what it meant in terms of employee engagement and morale. The Nokia network crossed all bounds and all jobs and brought together employees who would have never communicated otherwise.
I have had the pleasure of working closely with the authors to discuss in depth the power of well placed, well planned, and well guided, social media tools. They understand from their experience at Oracle that its not enough to simply encourage the use of blogs, wikis, Facebook, or other Web 2.0 tools, but to integrate these communication vehicles as part of a corporate culture built on relationships. Such a culture innovates, shares, and distributes information more rapidly and with a great sense of trust. If you’re looking for the means to decipher social media and make it work for your people and your organization, buy this book!
Join the
conversation:
Website: www.socialmediaatwork-connection.com
